Yep, I am at LEAST 67 pounds from feeling better. Probably 80 pounds from my goal...and my husband told me today that he booked a trip to Ocho Rios, Jamaica where we were married!!! Back then I was in a bikini!!
It's been 8 years and I should be thrilled to be going back, but now all of the diet stuff is really going to control my world. As if it hasn't been...but you know what I mean. I must drop 8-10 pounds per month between now and then. It's like I have no choice. How can I waddle on the beach with all the 25 year old honeymooners with no cellulite????

Is this trip a good thing or not??????????????????????????????

I TOTALLY get where you are coming from. You would be surprised as to how FEW fabulous, cellulite-free people there are in this world. Take it from someone who has seen her share of Italian seniors wearing thongs on the beach. Seriously. And what I learned from that is.....
LOVE YOURSELF IN YOUR SKIN RIGHT NOW.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring? Right now, you are healthy, have a great hubby who has surprised you with a Jamacian trip, and you can go!
Find some nice beach wraps if you would feel better in them, and some swimsuits that you will feel OK in. But for heaven's sake, GO, RELAX, and LOVE YOURSELF TODAY!!!

It's a good thing (I wish my SO would surprise me with a trip to Jamaica--or anywhere, for that matter)! Don't put your life on hold until you lose weight--enjoy your life now! People come in all shapes and sizes and there will be lots of others on the beach who are overweight. I agree with freiamaya--get yourself some nice pareos and coverups, buy yourself some new clothes to wear, get a bathing suit you'll be comfortable in, and GO! Have fun and enjoy yourself!

Also, have a trip planned like that can be a great motivator! Use it to help you stay on track with your diet and exercise! Everytime you want to go off plan or skip exercising, think about how much better you'll feel in Jamaica if you stay on plan.

Well I'd agree that you shouldn't put your life on hold due to your weight. Go on the vacation and enjoy yourself.

As for me, I'd be upset if my husband booked a surprise vacation but that is because I am a total vacation planner and I'd want to be involved from step 1!

Gosh all of you are so encouraging! Come to think of it when I was there last time I never saw a fat person. I don't know if it's because they were NOT there, or if they were and I just didn't pay attention. I must admit when I was "young and dumb" and had that killer body I would look at cellulite on others and think horrible things like "oh how could she show her self like that???". But live and learn. I am happy he planned it. He actually planned our wedding too, that was also a surprise. It will be fun to go back.
Meanwhile...he comes home from work tonight and orders PIZZA!!! This will be the longest 6 months of my life!! I have one current photo that I am saving and hope to post in November with my 6 month update. So if anyone remembers at that time please ask me in November to post pictures!

Gosh, have you told him about your desire to lose weight? I'd think if he knew, he wouldn't be so quick to order pizza... but who knows!

I say, go and have a blast. Last time I was in the Caribbean--you know, in the time of the Spanish galleons --the beach was filled with Europeans, all of whom were wearing tiny bikinis regardless of their size...
Jay

Heck yeah he knows of my desire to lose weight, it's his desire too. He has repeatedly explained how much he hates my weight gain and how much he really really wants me to lose it. Yet ...the pizza. He's promised me many things, new clothes, etc etc....I don't know if he thinks this trip might be the push I need or what. Obviously losing weight can help us both in a particular part of our lives...if you catch my drift!!!

You might actually want to make explicit the connection between the kind of food you eat and your ability to lose weight. People who don't obsess over their weight or go on diets or whatever are often pretty clueless about what is actually involved in losing weight and keeping it off. Perhaps if you explained your weight loss plan to him (including what you'll both be eating for dinner from now on) he wouldn't do dumb things like bring you pizza for dinner while complaining about your weight!

(To wit: I've finished losing the weight I had re-gained, and last night I was ordering my dinner--I work in a restaurant--and I asked the chef to use as little butter as possible in the sauce for my mussels. One of the other cooks said, 'I thought you were done with that diet. You look hot.'. Well, duh, I won't look hot for long if I let those guys put a stick of butter in my dinner... Sometimes normally-weighted people just don't get it.)

I should also add that I hope you're trying to lose weight because YOU want to lose it, and not because your husband is bullying you about it. *You* need to be the one committed to weight loss and it will be difficult, if not impossible, if you are only doing it because your husband complains about your weight or withholds sex because of it. You might want to point out to him that if you feel better about yourself, it will be easier for you to commit to taking care of your body, and it is his job as your husband to make you feel good--not bad--about yourself. You have to love yourself to feel that you deserve to treat yourself and your properly.

2Bthinagain, you have a problem with DH! Maybe he needs education, as Baffled111 suggested, but I can't believe anyone thinks pizza won't make one fat. I don't know him or you at all, of course, but if I were in your place I'd think it's MEAN of him to complain about your weight, tell you he hates it, and then bring pizza home. It's pretty inconsiderate...

So maybe have a talk with him and say, For me to lose weight, I can't have you bringing home pizza, ice cream, (etc etc) so please don't bring it home.

Jay

As a life long dieter, I have a hard time believing anyone wouldn't know that pizza could be a problem food, but then I wonder is it If he doesn't have a weight problem, and HE eats pizza, I doubt he believes there is a connection.